Memorandum by The RED Initiative, De Montfort
University
SUMMARY
1. This submission discusses the various
needs and requirements of product-, commercial interior- and industrial
design consultancies in developing their practice of eco-design.
2. The evidence focuses on the existing
business practise of small UK design consultancies with regard
to sustainability, and highlights current industry opinions about
legislation, levels of eco-design implementation, and the barriers
cited of why eco-design strategies are not currently integral
to every-design design practise.
3. Designers learn from project work and
evolving experience. Whilst there are numerous academic publications
in the field of eco-design, these are invariably not accessed
by designers, who adopt a "hands on" practical approach
in learning and skills development.
4. The research concluded that SME design
consultancies feel they are small fry in ability to implement
eco-design and waste-minimalisation strategies, due to their clients—often
large organisations—enforcing time and cost restrictions
on the small enterprises they outsource design work to.
5. Design consultancies often state that
the only way to ensure that design for environment strategies
are enforced is through more concise, practical legislation, that
can integrated into the design process.
6. In the current UK design sectors, designers
state they lack information—be it knowledge about environmentally-preferable
materials, eco-design strategies or general business support initiatives.
7. The evidence concludes with a need for
a higher level of innovation within the design industry. Rather
than slowly making incremental changes in developing products
and services that are marginally less environmentally-less damaging,
designers need assistance in becoming better at innovation. The
innovation of new products and service systems has the potential
to change consumer behaviour and move more quickly towards a sustainable
society.
BACKGROUND
8. De Montfort University's Faculty of Art
and Design is distinguished in producing industry-relevant design
education. Engaging with the industry that the faculty feeds is
fundamental to achieving this capability. A strong component of
this collaboration is dmudesign—a design consultancy based
within the University that also works in supporting and developing
the design and manufacturing industry within the East Midlands
region.
9. Beginning with Improving Business
by Design in 2003, dmudesign has been charged with
enabling SMEs to develop their businesses through innovative product
design by both Leicestershire Economic Partnership and the East
Midlands Development Agency. The focus throughout all programmes
has been identifying opportunities for innovation within the East
Midlands' design and manufacturing sector.
10. Our most recent programme, The Resource
Efficient Design (RED) Initiative assists businesses in minimising
the negative environmental impact of their products as well as
identifying opportunities for innovation that can have a significant
impact on resource efficiency. The key focus of The RED Initiative
is to demonstrate the opportunities that resource-efficient design
can deliver for businesses.
11. The RED Initiative works with the commercial
interior design and industrial design sectors. 93 per cent of
product and industrial design consultancies in the UK are SMEs,
of which 82 per cent have less than 10 employees. 98 per cent
of interior and exhibition design companies in the UK are SMEs
of which 94 per cent have less than 10 employees. Collectively,
the UK's design consultancies have a large influence over the
environmental impact of products in the UK and with 16 per cent
of SME design consultancies having overseas clients, this impact
stretches worldwide.
12. The following evidence outlines the
experiences of dmudesign programmes in relation to eco-design
practice in SME design consultancies in the East Midlands.
Can better designed products offset the increase
in consumption?
Yes
13. It is widely recognised amongst eco-design
practitioners that over 80 per cent of all product-related environmental
impacts are determined during the design phase. In any given product
this can include environmental damage in sourcing materials, emissions
and waste in production and wasted energy in use, in addition
to the environmental impacts of disposal.
14. Eco-design can assist in waste reduction
through minimising the use of materials or selecting alternative
materials, however, design has a pivotal and potentially more
critical role to play in changing consumption patterns. In order
to achieve a sustainable society it is critical that alternative
lifestyle solutions are designed, developed and adopted.
15. The various levels of eco-design implementation
can be broadly grouped into two levels: development and innovation.
The development of existing products can lead to a reduction in
their impact. The innovation of products and services has the
potential to adapt consumer behaviour and move more quickly towards
an environmental and social equilibrium.
How can better product design be used to effect
a change in consumption patterns and behaviour?
16. The role of the designer differs from
the engineer in the focus on human interface. "Human-factors"
is a core skill of the design discipline. The designer is therefore
well placed to understand, interpret and influence the consumption
patterns and lifestyles of consumers.
17. A simple example of an innovative environmentally-preferable
solution is the eco-kettle. The designers recognised that the
major environmental impact throughout the life-cycle of a kettle
is the excessive energy use due to users over-filling the product.
The solution: a kettle that boils the required amount of water
and reserves the remaining water for subsequent uses. The Department
of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs say that "If everyone
boiled only the water they needed instead of `filling' the kettle
every time, we could save enough electricity to run practically
all the street lighting in the UK".[29]
18. An example of "forward thinking"
by eco-innovators can be found in transportation. As opposed to
the minimal reductions that can be made through reducing materials
in production (such as the SMART car) or reducing the energy in
use (for example the Toyota Prius), a significantly greater environmental
benefit can be gained from vehicle sharing schemes. One such scheme
is the UCR Intellishare project[30]
where users select vehicles that suit their needs for each individual
transportation requirement only when they are needed.
What role can better design play in minimising
the creation of waste?
19. At a more superficial level designers
can develop products with waste minimisation in mind. Where affecting
consumption patterns is not possible, designers can use various
strategies to minimise the creation of waste.
20. There are various strategies for waste
reduction including:
(i) design for disassembly;
(iii) design for durability;
(vi) life cycle/Cradle to Cradle design.
21. The initial reaction to minimising waste
is often to focus on the end of a product's life cycle; however,
the major impacts of a product may be elsewhere.
22. In energy-using products the highest
environmental impact is typically the use stage. In this case
efforts should be focused on energy reduction in use. An interesting
example of this is Procter and Gamble's latest campaign, initiated
in conjunction with Forum for the Future, that encourages
their washing product users to turn their washing machines from
40 to 30 degrees.
Eco-design practice within industrial and commercial
interior design consultancies
23. The RED Initiative supports the concept
that the most effective way to progress design towards sustainability
is to focus on the opportunities for innovation. Unfortunately
the present focus of most organisations is on incremental improvement
and redesign of existing products. There was found to be limited
understanding of the opportunities that eco-design can bring for
both design consultants and their clients.
THE USE
OF MATERIALS
Challenges facing designers in adopting eco-design
in everyday design practice.
Material selection
24. The experience of The RED Initiative
is that the main eco-design strategy that designers focus on is
materials selection. This is supported by their clients who, where
eco-design issues are considered, are reported to focus their
requests for consideration of material selection.
25. Material selection amongst designers
is normally experience-based. The majority of products will be
designed in relation to their predecessors or similar products.
26. Designers indicated that the main barrier
to selection of environmentally-preferable materials is a perceived
additional cost. This is combined with a lack of confidence in
the quality and performance of eco-materials, as they are often
perceived as inferior alternatives.
Materials availability
27. The RED Initiative has experienced limited
application of alternative materials (such as biopolymers and
smart materials) by SME designers due to the potential limited
availability in sourcing such materials. However, designers often
mention materials featuring a high recycled content when considering
eco-design alternatives.
28. One area in which material scarcity
is regularly considered is when selecting Forestry Stewardship
Council (FSC)-approved wood based products. The labelling scheme
is well-known and commercial interiors designers often specify
FSC-approved woods.
29. In most cases however, the selection
of environmentally-preferable materials based on material availability
is limited, with the majority of enquiries based on the selection
of materials that have the appearance of "environmental friendliness".
End of life impacts of raw materials
30. Information on the potential end-of-life
routes for products is not well understood by designers. This
reflects the disparate recycling systems that products may face
both within the UK and abroad. Apart from reuse, opportunities
for product disassembly or even recycling of many products are
limited. This lack of coherent systems restricts the potential
for development of products in relation to end of life strategies.
31. There is potential for the development
of more sophisticated and consistent recycling systems as legislation
such as Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment regulations
(WEEE) bring a larger quantity of materials together.
What impact does the development of new materials
have on design?
32. The development of new materials has
limited impact on "everyday design" due to the need
for materials to be proved and costs and supply chain issues to
be reduced and resolved.
33. With limited time and money for product
development, designers indicate that they are rarely given the
opportunity to experiment with alternative materials. Where they
do try alternative materials it is likely to be in conjunction
with a manufacturer, who will be more knowledgeable about the
behaviour of that material in production.
34. In general, designers are more interested
in which of the conventional, readily available materials are
the least damaging. Constraints of time and demands on producing
workable outcomes with limited testing often prevent even this
level of alternative materials selection.
35. Where designers are looking to select
an alternative material, they often remark that they find it difficult
to select alternatives due to the lack of information about environmental
benefits. Designers want a "quick fix" solution due
to limited time for a full study of the material options. Providing
information that simplistically ranks materials can be misleading,
as environmental superiority is often situation specific. Further
understanding and time to consider the overall lifecycle impacts
of materials is required.
DEMAND (BUSINESS
FRAMEWORK)
How central is sustainable design to business
thinking?
36. Amongst SME design consultancies, their
directors and their staff, there is a general desire to respond
to environmental concerns in their business practice, and in the
design and production of products. Unfortunately this desire is
not met by a tangible/financial demand. Eco-design practice is
limited, with most small organisations rarely including eco-design
considerations.
37. Even (as is often the case) when SME
design consultancies and manufacturers produce work for larger
organisations, there is little to no legal requirement for eco-design
considerations.
38. Currently, resource-efficient design
is viewed as a specialist or retrospective discipline. Enterprises
of all sizes tend to only actively apply strategies of eco-design
when they perceive that there are benefits to be gained from "green
marketing" resulting from the applied eco-design.
39. However, a perceived fear of being left
behind other enterprises who may already be implementing approaches
is starting to alert businesses to the need to take action. According
to Paaru Chauhan-Pancholi from retail design consultancy Briggs
Hillier Design LTD, SMEs can not afford to lose clients if they
can not prove their knowledge about sustainability issues.
40. Where businesses genuinely do wish to
implement sustainable design strategies into their everyday business
practice, they are often ill-informed about the methodology of
establishing such strategies and find it difficult to identify
good starting points for eco-innovation.
What initiatives are in place to encourage this
and are they meeting business needs?
41. There are number of national government-funded
environmental support programmes made available to businesses,
such as The Carbon Trust, Business Link and Envirowise, as well
as a host of regional development agency-funded local organisations
open to SMEs—for example The RED Initiative, The BEST Network,
and Carbon Action Yorkshire.
42. When consulting with SME design groups
about the value of both local government programmes and national
environmental-support programmes in assisting businesses in improving
their environmental performance, it was discovered that SMEs found
regional business-support units more accessible and effective
in conveying practical advice. Design SMEs particularly found
programmes such as The RED Initiative to be of high value, due
to the programme offering services specifically focused on the
design industry, allowing support tailored to the precise needs
of the SME to be communicated to businesses.[31]
However, most design SMEs still feel that more engagement is needed
between businesses and environmental- and business support organisations.
43. It is the view of many SMEs that the
Design Council is currently very London-centric and should be
more proactive in disseminating information, training and research
conclusions into the design industry. According to Associate Director
Kate Shepard from retail design and branding agency Checkland
Kindleysides,
"The Design Council should play a larger
and more significant part in informing design businesses about
legislation and incorporating sustainability into SMEs' every
day practise".
44. The Design Council-run programme Design
of The Times (DOTT) and Designing Demand is already attempting
to fulfil this need, although here there is less of a focus on
eco design. Instead the project appears to consider general sustainability
and cultural innovation issues, rather than directly engaging
with design groups to assist them in employing practical eco-design
techniques.
Does the current policy, regulatory and legal
framework support incentivise the development of better, more
sustainable products and processes? How is the framework communicated
to businesses and what is the level of awareness and understanding
among businesses?
45. There are national organisations such
as the Design Business Association (DBA) and The British Design
Innovation (BDI) offering services to design businesses such as
information on legislation, legal advice and training packages.
However, research carried out by The Design Council concluded
that "architects are more than twice as likely as designers
to be doing job-related training" and "the proportion
of people engaged in job related training is far lower among designers
than for all other similar occupational groups".[32]
There is therefore a need to communicate with design consultancies
and in-house designers the need and benefits of continual training
and skills development of employees, and to create stronger links
between design businesses and organisations offering training
services.
46. Other creative industries such as architecture
and engineering have governing bodies such as the Royal Institute
of British Architects (RIBA) and the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers (ImechE) that oversee and regulate practitioners. These
bodies offer an acreditation service where the members become
Chartered or professionally qualified to work in the sector, and
which is recognised by both the industry and their clients. In
contrast, the governing body for the design industry is The Design
Council; however, this is not seen by designers or the larger
organisations that they produce work for as being regulatory or
having any real control in implementing legislation. Similarly,
The Charted Society of Designers, Royal Society of Arts and the
Institute of Engineering Designers are less well recognised in
the industry than RIBA, for example.
47. There is therefore a need for a more
recognised regulatory body in the design industry, to ensure strategies
such as eco-design are successfully implemented in businesses.
48. The Design Skills Advisory Panel document,
Higher Skills For Higher Value, written by the Sector Skills
Council, Creative and Cultural Skills and The Design Council highlights
an urgent need for more continual professional development in
the design industry with regard to sustainability in design. It
proposes that this should be a priority for the National Design
Academy proposal in its report; however, progress on this recommendation
has yet to come into fruition.
DESIGN INDUSTRY
NEEDS
What are the gaps in knowledge and how are they
being addressed?
49. There is a need to provide in-depth
support in Resource Efficient Design throughout the design cycle,
where actual environmentally-considered, commercial products are
generated. In addition, resource efficient design must be mainstreamed
into the various sectors of the design industry whilst providing
a step change in skills and accelerated development of environmental
products and services.
50. At present, design consultancies and
manufacturers' in-house designers have little awareness of eco-design
approaches. The current perception of most designers is that products
and services can be designed from an environmental approach simply
by using eco-preferable materials. There is very little understanding
of what life-cycle design methodology entails, nor how to apply
it.
51. SME Designers often state they have
little time to research traditional academic sources on subjects
such as eco-design strategies; instead they invariably prefer
to adopt practical, "hands-on" approaches to design.
52. Designers learn from experience, and
so often an effective way of learning new skills and applying
new approaches to design is through establishing exploratory design
projects that allow true innovation and creativity, and that are
not bound by the needs and demands of a client. For example, Creative
id*a ltd are in the process of generating a showcase sustainable
point of sale stand, to develop their designers' understanding
and capabilities in the field of eco-design and to demonstrate
to their clients the opportunities of eco-innovation within a
commercial environment.
53. With regard to environmentally-preferable
materials for use within 3D design, designers for the most part
know of few specific examples of such materials, and also have
little understanding about what different factors make one material
more environmentally-preferable than another. There is therefore
a need for more communication between materials scientists, materials
suppliers and designers, and collaboration on development "showcase"
projects where new materials can be utilised.
Impact of legislation
54. Legislation such as WEEE and Packaging
(Essential Requirements) Regulations rarely influence the design
practice of designers in consultancies. The legislation is normally
dealt with in a reactive way making it of limited use in influencing
designers' mentalities to waste minimisation. An example of the
types of barriers faced can be seen in the WEEE legislation. The
WEEE Directive will cause an inherent cost to manufacturers but
this will generally be accepted as an unavoidable, additional
cost. It does not encourage designers to find alternative materials
or design solutions.
55. Soft requirements that are often included
in regulations, such as "|packaging shall be manufactured
that the packaging volume and weight be limited..."[33]
have limited effect on moving the industry.
56. In light of this difficulty, "The
Government wants the European Commission to reform the Packaging
(Essential Requirements) Regulations, saying criteria such as
`consumer acceptance' make the laws difficult to enforce..."[34]
57. Some retail design consultancies are
trying to establish take-back systems but these need to be joined-up
with the retailers and should ideally be driven by their customers.
The need for legislation
58. There are requests from certain sectors
to legislate against specific materials and practices. For example,
the retail design industry, a highly competitive, high turnover,
highly wasteful sector sees legislation as the necessary driving
force for their industry to change its current practice.
59. However, The RED Initiative has seen
that there are opportunities for the industry to develop towards
more sustainable solutions, in a more productive and rewarding
way.
60. For example, Sheridan and Co—an
established retail design consultancy—are producing a showcase,
eco-design concept solution, to market the opportunities for resource
efficient design. They are exploring alternative materials as
well as innovation in the design. DIAM UK (part of a larger international
organisation) has been trying to develop a system to return their
display units for recycling and appropriate disposal.
61. When asking SMEs their opinions about
the effectiveness of current and new legislation from an environmental
improvement perspective, Paaru Chauhan-Pancholi from Briggs Hillier
Design replied:—
"There is a need for more legislation to
force design groups and their clients to apply eco-design strategies,
as the issues and need for sustainability, plus the methods and
technologies to deal with the problems are already in existence.
However, the government needs to bear in mind the practicalities
of implementing eco-design legislation in businesses, such as
the cost implications, and availability and communications about
eco-materials and systems in the supply chain".
62. Any new legislation should ensure that
resource efficient design (eco-design) is a mainstream, normal,
accepted principle in every day design practice, not just a specialist
or retrospective application.
63. Existing legislation is of limited value.
Encouraging solutions to definable problems does not stimulate
the creativity that designers can bring in providing innovative,
radical solutions. For example, defining a requirement for materials
reduction does not encourage the use of alternative materials.
Demanding use of biodegradable materials, for example, may restrict
the development of a more durable, reusable solution.
64. Need to stimulate demand amongst consumers,
demonstrate the opportunities to businesses, support SMEs, legislate
where possible to abolish the worst and encourage development
of eco-designed products.
65. Legislation needs to include systems
considerations, for example, the requirements on designers to
improve recyclability must be met by improved recycling systems.
A momentum is needed in the demonstration of functional and saleable
materials' properties in order for them to be taken up by the
design industry.
CONCLUSIONS
66. The ideal scenario is for eco-design
to be incorporated as a natural part of the everyday design process.
To designers, good design should mean that eco-design considerations
are an integral factor.
67. Designers are not typically in control
of what they design. Generally designers operate in very small
businesses that sell skills to large corporations, who generally
undervalue design.
68. The creative capability of the UK's
design industry is not lacking, nor is its desire to reduce the
environmental impact of product and retail design. As an industry
dominated by small businesses, its ability to drive change in
this area is limited as it relies heavily on clients for day to
day turnover of business. Conversely, SME design consultancies
have an invaluable capacity for innovation. Organisations that
contract designers must recognise the value of design in order
to produce design solutions that are exceptional in all aspects,
including their environmental impact.
69. A level of momentum should be expected
from the design industry as it must demonstrate the opportunities
to clients. Some design consultancies are taking the lead and
differentiating themselves. Some designers have remarked on the
need for designers to be proactive in demonstrating the potential
of eco-design.
70. "Try to promote the advantages
of eco design to our clients and focus their minds on the advantages
it can bring to their business."[35]
71. Design in the UK is at risk from the
development of the cheaper overseas market.[36]
Value added services are an opportunity for UK consultancies to
maintain a cutting edge.
"...Accepting that resource-efficient design
or eco-design is becoming part of the design & manufacturing
landscape, design consultancies have to be proactive and include
it as part of their package of research, design & development
services—not least because it is adding value to their own
consultancy work as well as to that of their clients. Only a short-termist
could argue otherwise."[37]
72. There is a need to enable SMEs to keep
abreast of environmental requirements and industry trends. Larger
organisations have the time to invest in developing their knowledge
and strategies in this area. However the overwhelming trend to
outsource design means that these skills are not developed within
the design function of the product development process. Environmental
considerations in relation to products or environments tend to
stay within company policy and corporate and social responsibility
(CSR) reports, rather than being implemented as the design function.
73. It is important that the value of the
SME design industry is recognised and supported in developing
invaluable eco-design skills and knowledge.
29 http://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/eco-kettle.html Back
30
http://world.honda.com/ICVS/about/intellishare/inte.html Back
31
Paaru Chauhan-Pancholi from Briggs Hillier Design LTD stated she
valued local, sector-specific business support programmes more
highly over national, general environmental advice bureaus because
the local programmes are accessible, and easy to develop good
relationship with. Back
32
The Design Council, 2007. Training and skills: The business
of design. http://www.design-council.org.uk/en/About-Design/Research/The-Business-of-Design2/Training-and-skills/ Back
33
Packaging Essential Requirement Legislation. Back
34
Packaging News, 1 September 2007, http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/news/736868/pack-minimisation-laws-reformed/ Back
35
Anonymous. Retail and Point of Sale designer. Back
36
"Two thirds of... designers (64 per cent) have seen the intensity
of competition for UK work increase over the past three years
and around the same proportion (67 per cent) expect it to increase
further in the next three years." In the UK, almost everyone
faces competition from other UK designers for domestic projects
(97 per cent), but the 78 per cent of designers reporting overseas
competition for the same work say that it's from designers in
Asia (56 per cent)-in particular India (38 per cent) and China
(26 per cent)-and Western Europe (30 per cent). http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/About-Design/Research/The-Business-of-Design2/Competition2 Back
37
Nicki Theokritoff, UK furniture designer. Back
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